Etihad Airways and Manchester City Football Club (Manchester City) have joined forces to celebrate grassroots football, shining a light on inspiring untold stories from a selection of the airline’s key global gateways.

City2City is a new digital video series in which Etihad Airways and
Manchester City visit some of the world’s most popular cities: Beijing, New
York, Paris and Mumbai – all of which are important destinations on the Etihad
Airways network. The series lifts the lid on how grassroots football inspires,
motivates and shapes young lives, while uncovering fascinating aspects of each
city.

To delve fully into the nuances of the different cultures, Etihad Airways
and Manchester City reached out to acclaimed youth media brand, VICE Media, through
its in-house global agency, Virtue Worldwide, to produce City2City. The series
tells everyday stories of aspiring young footballers and leaders who are using
the power of football to help transform young individuals in four dynamic metropolises.

Patrick Pierce, Etihad Airways Vice
President Marketing Partnerships, said:
“Together with City Football Group, we are proud to produce a four-part series
highlighting the positive social contributions football can make in local
communities. We are also committed to supporting the development of youth
football globally by encouraging young male and female athletes to pursue their
goals in sport and in life, and to contribute positively to their communities.”

Tom Glick, CityFootball Group Chief
Commercial Officer, said: “We are extremely proud to have produced a
series of content with our partners, Etihad Airways, which will resonate with
City fans and football fans all over the world. Stripping football to its core,
City2City showcases the simple purity of the grassroots game and the bonds of
friendship, inspiration and teamwork which can be found in the world’s
favourite sport.”

The first episode in the series visits Beijing and premieres on 13 April
2017. This film will follow the story of Huang and Ding, who by focusing their
energies on the sport they love, are inspiring a whole new generation of
footballers in China.

In New York, Etihad Airways pays a visit to Manchester City’s
sister club, New York City FC and its ‘City in the Community’ charity programme.
In the heart of Spanish Harlem, the episode introduces the young star of the
film, Shaeline Diaz, who shook up the status quo in her family and community in
pursuit of excellence both on and off the field. The episode charts her story
as she tried to walk away from the sport she’d grown to love.

In Mumbai, England international and Manchester City Women player
Jill Scott learns the inspirational story of Parvati Pujari and her
relationship with the Magic Bus Foundation as she discovers strength and
leadership through football. This film shows one of the many facets of an urban
landscape marked by skyscrapers and surrounded by neighbourhoods in a colourful
melting pot of cultures and ethnicities.

City2City comes to a close in Paris, exploring ‘les banlieues’
which have been home to some of French football’s best talents, including Manchester
City youngster Thierry Ambrose, who talks about his path to becoming a
professional player. The film follows journalist and storyteller, Ilyes Ramdani
and local protégé, Enzo Lopes, to discover what makes this most diverse of communities
such a hotbed of footballing talent.

Etihad Airways has
been Manchester City’s main club partner since May 2009. The Club’s stadium has
been renamed as the Etihad Stadium, forming the centrepiece of a
newly-named Etihad Campus, which encompasses a large part of the Sport City
site in East Manchester.